Heel insert



Aug. 13, 1935. w. A. EVANS 2,011,174

HEEL INSERT Filed Dec. 7, 1933 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED'STATES PATENT lFFl Cliif HEEL INSERT William A. Evans, New York, N. Y., assignor of. Y. r, one-half to Harry Victor Morley and William L. V Morris, New York, N. Y.

I Application December 7, 1933, Serial No; 701,258 I, 3 Claims. (01. as -75 The present invention relates to cushioned heels for foot-Wear. More particularly, the invention relates to" heels of this type, which are designed M to beof non-slip and wear-resistant materiallaterally expanded in dove-tail or other formation,

in or below the tread lift, as to preclude outward movement of. the gadget through. the tread-lift, away from the face of its seat on the cushion lift. To accommodate such flange or lateralexpansion I rulbbler, cork atmg. other materials of which of the gadget, the inner face of the tread-lift may mo ee :5? .ave ere o ore been composed are all be countersunk. q A notoriously non-resistant to wear, and are unre- When-the heel is a'unit of rubber or otherirelit'lble, as go dtregd), on wet ground, particularly silient material, the gadgets may be set 'into the w en roun e o y wear. material, to the proper, limited, depth,with one I. 'It is a primaryobject of the invention to provide face at thetread surface, before the material has 10 a cushion heel in which there cannot be that set or hardened; so that, upon-hardening of the rounding off bywear, which has heretofore been material, and byreason of the flanged or laterally characteristic of such heels. It is, however, a expanded base of thegadgetythe'gadget is-held further object of the invention to provide a cushinterlocked with the rubber, against displacement.

II ion heel which is non-slip regardless'of the ques- To provide against shift or displacement ofthe 13* tion of wear thereof. gadget. toward or through e Side p p y u'Any atenlipt to mbake1 a cushion heel resistant to the heel, the gadget is preferably of dart shape, wearan s ip, as y aving nai s or spikes set or laterally shouldered formation. i

therethrough to the last or body of the shoe, must A feature of the invention, in the preferred form fail; because rigid nails or spikes set. to a hard thereof, is a'treadof cushion material, cut away 20. base at the plane of the wearers foot must render centrally thereof to a depth of say one heel lift, or nugatory the. cushioning material. In certain in.- somolded. as to present a ground-contact or wear.- Sfances, OI! the other hand, 101211598, tabs, gadge s ing surface "of U or horseshoe formation. This of various kinds have been pressed orstamped cut-outinthetread isshown in the accompanyfl into 1117115111011 t ead, with the idea that these ing drawing as having its peripheral'walls tapered would stay any wear of the cushioning material laterally outward from the bottom ofthecut to n whic t y w s t, or w uld r s y slipthe face of the tread; so .as tojmakethe cut of p s tendency of the l 0n W t u dall arch-shaped cross-section; whereby as the ball Such attempts, w .cumbine, y use Of of the foot heel exertsits pressure centrally of the a m atl in rts if r e h ls, the en fi s f w rshoe heel, the "arch of'the cut is slightly flattened, 3o Fesis fi yresiliency, it a been Olmd at and the sides or walls thereof spread apart, to

i the wear-resistant elements either'impair the recause the edges of the cut, at the inner horseshoe, iy 0f the or $0011 p from, teal, to bite theground on opposite sides of the. heel, theAssldioi treadil, d in h d. f with a doublegrip, to assist in resilslting slip in any lnguls i @0116 an romawear. direction. This yield of thea'rc furthermore, ireiistant non-Slip device extending through adds appreciably to the' spring or resiliency of the 2335 512 8 s w s g ggfig i t1 a f; ti heel; and the cut makes the dheel lighter, and

. w @0115 1 lkin bette'ronuneven roun.

. 1 93 hand, m a device so mfiectively iheieduction of tread surface to U or horse- $32 3 2? 2533: ggig; p gg g shoe formation is the more readily pernlilissible in ,1 5 I i r I p my heel, because the tread surface, whic in other ttfififiitttttttttffil iti fiiel lfit $33 heels could mt begpared except at g of rapid wear, is ere unnecessary, I ue o e and t h md 31 as to be held agamst presence on the horse-shoe tread of my heel, of

I qp m a oneor morefof the wear-resistant gadgets here- It is a feature of the invention that the heel f d The feature of the horseghb-ye may consist of aninner or cushioning lift of relato ore men lone 1 d 2 t an tivel ysoft and'r e'silient material, 'andan'outer or t however a be 7 treadlift of harder and better wear-resisting mastancesrwhflre the gadgets Fi s terial; orthe heel may be madeas a unit of reother oblects and features h Invention 5 silient material, uniform throughout. In the" first will re -wh t iaf m m a instance, the surface of the inneror chushionlift co pa y i w f 1n mQ 1 may conveniently serve as the seat for the gadgets Fig. 1 is a viewin perspectiveof an assembled 'inentioned' above and the latterbeso flanged or heel embodying t lnventlonr l i er s a t u tionthereofv I ,ployed, as desired.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the wearresistant device, in the preferred form thereof.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bottom, or outer face, of a part of the outer lift of the heel, showing the hole or seat for the Fig. 2 device.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the Fig. 4 heel-piece or lift, showing the same hole or seat for the Fig. 2 device, viewed from the inside.

Fig. 6 is a view in cross-section, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of a broken part of an assembled heel embodying the invention in another modification thereof.

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of the wearresistant device of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic outline to show the gripping action of the Fig. 1 form of tread upon application of pressure by the ball of the wearers heel.

Referring to the drawing,'the heel is shown as comprising a cushioning lift Ill, preferably of relatively soft rubber. An outer lift, or tread, I l, which is shown as of U or horse-shoe shape, and which may be of the same, or of other and harder material than the lift H], but which, like thelift I0, is preferably of rubber, is secured to the'outer face of the lift l0, and with the lift W, to the shoe body or last by spikes or pins 12, set in the holes l3, which register in the two lifts, to be continuous therethrough. A cushion if! and a A, tread will be found satisfactory for mens shoes of the ordinary kind.

Referring now more particularly to the wearresistant device or gadget 9 shown in Fig. 2, the same is shown as comprising a blunted dartshaped lug M, the base of which in Fig. 1 is shown near the edge or periphery of the heel,

and the other end of which is bellied out in postlike formation to provide shoulders l5, which, with the shoulders l6 of the dart, prevent outward longitudinal movement, or'radial displacement of the device in the body of the tread H. The cut in the tread II, to receive this dartshaped lug I4, is shown in the bottom-face view of the tread in Fig. 4.

- To prevent the device'of Fig. 2 from dropping out of the tread, and from displacement at an angle to the face of the tread, the device of Fig.2 is provided with a flange or plate l1, which may conveniently be a continuation of the dart formation of the lug M at the base thereof, rounded toward the center of the heel co-axially with the post of.the lug. This'lateral expansion of the device in the flange I! has the further function ofassisting the shoulders 65 and E6 in holding the device as a whole against radial dis-.

placement. In order that the flange I! may not interfere with proper seating of the lifts, oneon the other, the inside face of the tread, see Figs.

.5 and 6, is countersunk at l8 to receive the flange and hold the same flush with the face of the tread. Although in Fig. 1 I have shown the heel as havingone of the gadgets therein, it will be obvious that two, or more than two, may be em- In another form of the invention, the pieces l0 and H may be molded as a single piece; in which event the wear-resistant devices, or gadgets, will be set into the rubber, or-into the castingdie, before the rubber has hardened, or before the casting operation; so that, upon hardening 'of the rubben'the gadgets will be locked by the rubber, by means of the shoulders, flanges, or

other interlocking elements of the against displacement in any direction.

It has been pointed out that in the Fig. 1 construction the tread lift is of U or horse-shoe shape, to afford a central opening therethrough; the sides or walls of which are tapered laterally outward from the bottom of the cut to the face of the tread. This opening or cut. with its consequent lightness of tread material, may be of other shape, or may be entirely absent in embodiments of the invention where the anti-slip feature is not desired. The reduced wearing area of the tread due to the opening I9 is compensated for by the superior wearing qualities of the gadgets Hi.

The opening I9, when present, however, and as hereinbefore stated, introduces a feature of the invention which may add greatly to the ground-gripping, or non-slip, character of the device as a whole, as well as the the resiliency or spring thereof. In Fig. 9, the weight of the body on the ball of the heel of the foot, as applied .to the center of the shoe-heel, is indicated as to position by the arrow 2!]. This pressure somewhat flattens the arch of the cut-out, to cause the tread to bite the ground, witha double grip, at the edges 25 and 22 of the cut, on opposite sides of the heel, as well as to the rear thereof. More over, in so far as the edge at one side of the cut I9 tends to resist slip in one direction, the edge at the other side tends to resist slip in the other direction,as indicated by the Fig. 9 diagram.

In Figs. '7 and 8, is shown a form 23 of the wear-resistant device or gadget, in which the flange of the Fig. 2 device is lacking; but in sub-. stitution for which flange, the gadget 23 is shown as having its periphery 24 flared and expanded outwardly and laterally in the heel, in dove-tail form, to prevent loss of the gadget, or displacement thereof vertically outward with respect to the tread face. The heel tread, (in this instance not shown in the drawing) is countersunk to the dove-tail form of the gadget 23, to interlock with and hold the latter. Here again, however, the heel may be of one piece, and the gadget set into the material thereof, before the rubber has set or hardened; so that, the pocket for the gadget 23 may be formed in the molding of the rubber against the gadget.

I claim:

1. A heel for shoes, comprising a tread lift and an inner cushioning lift of rubber or other resilient material, the tread lift having a pasgadgets,

sage therethrough from face to face, and a.wear-'- resistant element in said passage having a hard wearing face at the tread of the heel, and having a seat on the inner lift for yield therewith with respect to the foot-supporting shoe-surface to which the heel attaches, the wear-resistantelement, behind the tread surface, having an integral lateral expansion or offset interlocking with the heel material to prevent outward displacement of the wear-resistant element, and one of said lifts having a countersink or recess of size and shape to accommodate said lateral expansion or offset on the wear-resistant element. I 2. A heel for shoes comprising a tread layer having a recess therein, a wear-resistant element in said recess shaped to permit insertion thereof into the recess after the recess has been made and having a hard outer face thereof at the tread surface of the heel for ground contact, a thickness of cushioning material closing the inner end of the recess and against which the wear-resistant element is seated to have yield or play with respect to the foot-supporting shoe-surface to which the heel attaches, and means integral with said wear-resistant element to yield therewith for interlockment with the tread'layer to hold the wear-resistant element against outward displacement.

3. A heel for shoes, comprising a tread lift and an inner cushioning lift of rubber or other resilient material, the tread lift having a passage therethrough from face to face, and a wear-resistant element shaped for insertion into said passage from the interior face of the tread lift when the lifts are separated; the wear-resistant element when in place having a metal or hard wear-resistant, ground contact surface at the tread of the heel, and having a seat on the inner lift for yield therewith with respect to the footsupporting shoe-surface to which the heel attaches, and having behind the tread surface of the heel a lateral offset for holding the wearresistant element against outward displacement, said offset being integral with the body of the wear-resistant element to participate in said yield of the latter.

WILLIAM A. EVANS. 

